Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?

As the crisis in Syria intensifies, so too does the international community's involvement there.

More than 60 countries calling themselves "Friends of Syria" are holding a series of meetings to discuss the path forward for the international community. The name "Friends of Syria" is a bit of a misnomer, however, as they could better be described as "Opponents of the Assad Regime," even though not all of them are calling for the Syrian leader to step down right now.

There is no doubt that an overwhelming majority of countries in the world are in favor of the immediate end of the current Syrian regime, but Syrian President Bashar al-Assad still has some friends who are trying to influence the outcome of the current crisis.

Complete Coverage of the Syrian Conflict

While many countries, both in the Middle East and beyond, will be affected by what happens in Syria there is a small group of countries with special interests and outsized influence on the crisis. The key players in Syria are the U.S., Israel, Turkey, Russia, Iran and the Arab League. While there are countless others - China, France, Britain, and Iraq, to name a few - who will be involved in and affected by the crisis moving forward, those five appear at this time to be the ones who will have the largest interest and involvement.

Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?

United States of America

America's interests in Syria are largely tied to a post-Cold War, still-evolving mission of "promoting freedom" around the world, as well as its role as the world's only superpower.

President Assad never publicly antagonized America like Libya's Muammar Qaddafi, nor did his government ever provide overt support for anti-American terrorism, although there is plenty of evidence Syria aided militias and groups in neighboring Iraq fighting against American forces. Additionally, Syria is not a major supplier of oil or other natural resources to America.

Still, since the start of the Arab Spring the Obama administration has cautiously and somewhat inconsistently (see: Bahrain) thrown its support behind the popular movements seeking to topple the region's autocratic regimes, and Syria seems to have evolved into a conflict where it is easy for the U.S. to pick sides.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is one of the key players in the "Friends of Syria" group, and any aid package, military or otherwise, will likely have large amounts of American resources involved.

At the beginning of the Syria conflict a year ago, the Obama administration merely called for a peaceful resolution. Now it is firmly demanding that Assad step down.

Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?

The Arab League

While both Qatar and Saudi Arabia could be singled out for their influence on the Syria crisis, the 22-member Arab League - of which they are members - is likely to wield the widest influence of any organization or government in regards to Syria going forward.

It was Arab League observers that Assad allowed in recently even though some criticized them as too willing to see only what the Syrian leader wanted to show them. It is an Arab League peace plan that the U.N. is mulling over. And it may be Arab League overtures that will get Russia and China to drop their objections to some form of concerted international action, possibly including a joint Arab-UN peacekeeping force.

The Arab League played a key role in winning international agreement for intervention in Libya. The West is looking to it to lead similar calls for change in Syria.

Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?

Israel

Israel and Syria share a disputed 40-mile or so border, and the two nations are still technically at war. Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since the Six Day War in 1967 while the Assad regime provides direct support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Israeli occupied territories. Israel (and the U.S.) consider all three of those groups to be terrorist organizations. That said, Assad was always "the devil they knew," so Israel has been eyeballing the Syrian conflict warily since the start.

Israel has already been affected by the conflict. A reported 20 Syrians were killed by Israeli forces in June along the border during pro-Palestinian demonstrations that some said were orchestrated by the Assad government to distract from the growing crackdown on its own demonstrators.

Most important to Israel's interests is how the outcome in Syria would affect its ongoing conflict with Iran. Many observers view Syria as Iran's closest regional ally, and many Israelis believe ending the Assad regime could curtail Iranian influence next door.

Efraim Halevy, a former Israeli national security adviser and ambassador, wrote in a recent New York Times op-ed: "Iran's foothold in Syria enables the mullahs in Tehran to pursue their reckless and violent regional policies - and its presence there must be ended. The current standoff in Syria presents a rare chance to rid the world of the Iranian menace to international security and well-being."

Another Israeli fear is that one of the possible outcomes in Syria would be a Somalia-style chaos, where warring factions battle for control with no central authority to answer for any cross-border spillover.

Thus far, Israel has not asserted itself too heavily into the debate on Syria, in large part because public support of any one side could provide the other with a propaganda boost given the generally anti-Israeli sentiment in the region.

Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?

Turkey

Syria and Turkey share a very long border and deep historical ties. Although relations had been strained for much of the last 50 years, in recent years Turkey had been cultivating Assad in an effort to open Syria up as part of a trade route between Europe and the Middle East. Now, however, the Assad regime's repression has turned the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan against it. Last November, Turkey made the break final when Erdogan called for Assad to step down.

Many of the refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict are camping out on Turkey's side of the border. There are numerous reports of hospitals, supply depots and sanctuaries in Turkey set up especially for fighters from the Free Syrian Army, the ragtag rebel fighting force.

Syria also represents a chance for Turkey to improve upon its already robust position as an important regional power broker. The Erdogan government has cultivated that image in recent years as it negotiates for European Union membership. Turkey, along with France, is the co-chair of the "Friends of Syria" conference currently in Tunisia, and may be hosting the next one.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is rumored to have lobbied Sec. Clinton for direct intervention in Syria, a position both countries have been careful to not publicly support.

Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?

Russia

The Soviet Union had very close ties to Bashar al-Assad's father, the late Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad. Russia has been a primary sponsor of Syria for decades, and has a crucial naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean. Needless to say, Russia's interests reside with the Assad regime, which is why they have vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning him, and have been the biggest stumbling block to any effort at united international pressure.

The Russian government has attempted to frame the debate on Syria as a question of "foreign intervention." China backs that position in Syria, as it does elsewhere in the world. Critics argue that both Russia and China support non-intervention because they fear they could become the next targets of human rights critics.

The two reluctantly abstained from vetoing international intervention in Libya in 2011, but now Russia is leading opposition to concerted international action in Syria.

Since Soviet times, Russia has seen the Assad government as an important regional counterweight to U.S. and Israeli interests. Syria is the most powerful Israeli neighbor that has not signed a peace treaty with the Jewish state.

Syria in crisis: Who are the key players?

Iran

On first glance, Iran's religious orthodoxy and Syria's more secular approach to society seem to conflict, but Assad's family are Alawites, and dominate the majority Sunni population. The Sunnis are historical rivals of the Shiite government in Tehran.

Syria and Iran initially found firm common ground trying to prevent Saddam Hussein's regional domination, and that relationship has evolved as their strategic goals aligned in the following decades. Their ties are now deep and well developed. There are reports that Iran is sending security personnel, advisers, arms and supplies to bolster the Assad regime.

Iran has also long been involved in Lebanon through its proxy Hezbollah, which it supplies through Syrian territory. While the new Shiite-dominated Iraqi government may present an opportunity for Iran, Syria's Assad has long been a sure thing for them in a region that often lacks sure things.

Both Assad and Iran's rulers are calculating that their chances of withstanding international pressure are better if they continue to work together.